Summer League at a glance

 

RESULTS

At Cox Pavilion

Houston 82, Denver 75

Toronto 102, New York 89

Chicago 79, L.A. Clippers 50

Sacramento 79, Minnesota 78

 

At Thomas & Mack Center

San Antonio 89, Atlanta 84

Cleveland 93, Phoenix 82

Miami 92, Detroit 83

 

HIGHLIGHTS

Rockets 82, Nuggets 75 — Chase Budinger scored 24 points and former Arizona teammate Jordan Hill had 13 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks to lead Houston to the win.

Raptors 102, Knicks 89 — Toronto shot 62.1 percent from the floor on its way to 3-0. DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 23 points.

Spurs 89, Hawks 84 — Darryl Watkins’ free throw and dunk in the final 1:15 gave San Antonio a six-point lead. Alonzo Gee had 24 points and four steals for the Spurs.

Bulls 79, Clippers 50 — John Lucas III led Chicago with 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting.

Cavaliers 93, Suns 82 — Cleveland placed four scorers in double figures on the way to the win.

Kings 79, Timberwolves 78 — DeMarcus Cousins nailed a jumper with 2.8 seconds left to give the win to Sacramento, which had four players score in double figures.

Heat 92, Pistons 83 — Weyinmi Efejuku scored 19 points to lead Miami past Detroit.

 

STARS

n Cleveland’s J.J. Hickson poured in 34 points on 12-for-19 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in a victory over Phoenix.

n Denver’s Laurence Ekperigin had 21 points and six rebounds in 17-plus minutes off the bench in a loss to Houston.

n Toronto’s Sonny Weems scored 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting in a blowout of New York.

n Sacramento’s Cousins logged 22 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals in a victory over Minnesota.

 

BECK TO EUROPE

Romel Beck’s Summer League run ended Wednesday as the Denver Nuggets wrapped up play 4-1. The former UNLV guard said he plans to head to Europe to continue his basketball career rather than return to the NBA Development League, where he led the Dakota Wizards in scoring last season with a 17.9 average.

“I should know something by the end of next week,” said Beck, who is considering playing in Italy or France with Israel an outside possibility.

Beck was a late addition to the Nuggets’ Summer League roster and didn’t play much. He scored eight points in five games.

 KARL LEAVES EARLY

Coby Karl missed the Nuggets’ loss to Houston to travel to Los Angeles and attend the ESPY Awards, where his father, George, was being honored.

George Karl is trying to battle back from throat cancer after being diagnosed in February. Coby is a cancer survivor himself, having overcome thyroid cancer several years ago.

In four Summer League games, Karl averaged 14 points.

 

GRIFFIN STILL DELIBERATING

Clippers power forward Blake Griffin said Wednesday he’s not sure if he will participate in next week’s USA Basketball minicamp at Cox Pavilion.

“I’d like to play,” said Griffin, who had knee surgery in January. “I just want to make sure it’s OK with my team.”

Griffin said he will talk to Los Angeles coach Vinny Del Negro and USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo in the next couple of days and make a decision.

“If they want me to be there and just watch, I’ll do whatever they want,” said Griffin, who is in the player pool but has not been guaranteed a roster spot for next month’s FIBA World Championships.

The Las Vegas minicamp begins Tuesday.

 

BAD SIGNS FOR CLIPPERS?

Clippers fans couldn’t be encouraged by the team’s horrific showing on offense Wednesday.

The team’s two first-round draft choices, forward Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest and guard Eric Bledsoe of Kentucky, shot a combined 4-for-21 in a loss to Chicago.

Aminu went 3-for-15 from the floor, and Bledsoe committed seven turnovers.

 

DAYE SITS

Pistons forward Austin Daye missed Wednesday’s game against the Heat with a sore hip. Daye, who averaged 5.1 points and 2.1 rebounds as a rookie out of Gonzaga last season, is questionable for Friday’s game against the Knicks.

 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Lakers will try to avoid finishing 0-5 when they play the Spurs at 1 p.m. today at Cox Pavilion. Also, the Warriors and Bishop Gorman High School product Kashif Watson play their final game at 3 p.m. against the Suns at Cox Pavilion.

 

QUOTABLE

“People always talk about me sacrificing, but they never talk about the freshmen and how much they had to sacrifice. DeMarcus had to sacrifice some playing time and points, same with John and Eric.” — Houston Rockets rookie forward Patrick Patterson on playing with fellow NBA newcomers DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and Bledsoe at Kentucky

 

TODAY’S GAMES

At Cox Pavilion

1 p.m. — L.A. Lakers vs. San Antonio

3 p.m. — Golden State vs. Phoenix

5 p.m. — Washington vs. Dallas

7 p.m. — L.A. Clippers vs. Portland

At Thomas & Mack Center

5:30 p.m. — Atlanta vs. Milwaukee

7:30 p.m. — D-League Select vs. Memphis

STEVE CARP AND TRISTAN AIRD
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL